The Nigeria Customs Service, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Command, said it has handed over seized fake $10, 000 to officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, Juliana Tomo who announced this in a statement on Saturday, disclosed that the command arrested a 41-year-old suspect, Ifeanachor Ugbor, in connection with the seizure.
She explained that the suspect who was heading to Brazil, contravened the the Money Laundering Prohibition Act of Nigeria, adding that the command made this seizure less than two months after the new Customs Area Controller, Charles Orbih, was redeployed from Abia/Imo Area Command to MMIA.
“Considering Section 15 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as Amended, Act No 11, 2011 and Act No 1, 2012, which entails the money laundering offences, a passenger contravened a part of this section within our jurisdiction.
“This passenger, Ugbor, is a 41-year-old Nigerian from Enugu State with a valid Nigerian Standard Passport No. B00033052 who was scheduled to travel from Murtala Muhammad International Airport with the Ethiopian Airline to Brazil on Friday November 10, 2023 was suspected to have contravened the Money Laundering Prohibition Act of Nigeria”, she said.
The spokesperson added that the suspect was restrained from traveling and detained for further investigation.
“The suspect, having declared the sum of $10,000 on our currency declaration form, our officers took a step further to examine the currency in line with section 66 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, and the officers discovered that the sum of $10,000 was all counterfeit”, the statement noted.
The Customs Area Controller in charge of the command, Orbih, commended the operation, noting that the achievement was a result of the due diligence of the officers.
“We have eagle eyes officers in this command, they are ready to work for 24 hours of the day and seven days of the week combating all customs-related crimes and bringing to the limelight the perpetrators.
“We hereby hand over the sum of $10,000 counterfeited currency to the EFCC, the suspect, a valid Nigerian Standard Passport No. B00033052, two phones and his baggage for further necessary action”, Orbih said.
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